Senate President Criticizes ‘Message’ Sent by Christie on Atlantic City’s Future

Appointment of two ‘bankruptcy experts’ will do more harm than good, Sweeney warns

Gov. Chris Christie’s gambling with Atlantic City’s future, according to state Senate President Stephen Sweeney.

The Gloucester Democrat said Christie’s decision to bring in two “bankruptcy experts” to oversee the troubled city’s finances “sends obviously the wrong message.”

The governor last week appointed finance attorney Kevin Lavin and Kevyn Orr, the former corporate lawyer who guided Detroit out of bankruptcy, to try to fix the city’s financial woes.
Wall Street seemed to agree with Sweeny as the bond-rating agencies dropped Atlantic City to junk-bond status.

“I don’t think it bodes particularly well for a bondholders that the state hired restructuring and bankruptcy experts to assist Atlantic City with its financial difficulties,” said Fitch Ratings Inc. Senior Director Marcy Block.